Thanksgiving And The Rest Of The Story

Thanksgiving And The Rest Of The Story

The first half of the story came to the north; the rest of the story took place in the south. Both halves had to do with the covenant.

The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, came in 1620 to be free from tyranny. 44 Puritans calling themselves saints sailed from England with 66 others, whom the Puritans called the "Strangers."

An agreement was worked out before landing, and they made a covenant called the Mayflower Compact, that unified the two groups and named themselves the "Pilgrims."

Freedom is not easy. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew, less that 50 survived the first winter. But God’s providence brought an Indian named Squanto who spoke English that taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn and other survival methods. As a slave he had learned English. His importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived without his help. As a result, the harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans.

The covenant of the Mayflower Compact was the foundation for America’s blessing. According to Scripture, God swears with an oath to bless those who keep the covenant and to equally curse those who break it. God remembers the blessings of the covenant to a thousand generations, but visits the iniquities of the fathers on the 3^rd and 4^th generation. For this reason America is still enjoying the blessings in spite of our sins.

Liberty brings the blessings of prosperity. Tyranny brings the curses of poverty. The key to prosperous liberty is obedience to God’s covenant.

Now, the rest of the story: The other key element to America’s freedom took place in Scotland 18 years later. In 1638 Scotland made a national covenant with God. But 22 years after that it was violated when the king of England made himself the head of the church and seized the churches of Scotland. 400 Scottish Covenanters said, “No. Christ is the head of the Church. We’ll preach in the fields. This freedom cost them their incomes, their homes, and death for many. The penalty for preaching in the fields was death. But as many as 14,000 would attend these field meetings.

After 20 years of persecution only a small handful of field preachers remained. They were all that remained of the Covenanters. One of them was a young schoolteacher called, The Lion Of The Covenant, Richard Cameron. He went to Holland to be ordained by some exiled Covenanters. After the three ministers laid hands on him and prayed, two of them removed their hands, but Rev McWard’s hand stayed. He had sort of a trance and found himself in the field in Scotland watching while they beheaded Richard Cameron. Then he found himself transported to Edinburg where he witnessed Cameron’s head on display. He reported this to the congregation.

So Richard Cameron knowing what was in store for him, returned to Scotland and began to preach in the fields. Two men who had opposed him came and asked his forgiveness. He said, “I freely forgive you for what you did to me. But because of what you did to God’s cause,” he said to one, “Your house will burn down.” To the other he said, “You will be childless.” Both prophesies by this Presbyterian Covenanter were fulfilled.

The Sanquhar Declaration was the idea of our Declaration of Independence. A public declaration for freedom had to be made. The Bible calls it, “The word of our testimony.” Richard Cameron rode into the town of Sanquhar Scotland with 20 horsemen with a legal document written by his lawyer brother. They posted it in the town square, read it out loud, and distributed copies throughout the town. It declared the illegitimacy of the king of England on the grounds of his tyranny. This precedent of the Declaration of Independence made him the most wanted man in the British kingdom.

In one of his last sermons he prophesied the genocide and ethnic cleansing that would take place in the sinful highlands of Scotland. This was fulfilled 66 years later at the Battle of Culloden. This battle brought a great migration of Scots to America. That’s when my ancestors came. America became the Greater Scotland. There are now 5 times more Scots in America than in Scotland. Country-Western music, Blue Grass, and even Negro Spirituals came from Scotland. The Scots mixed with all the other races in America and scholars say the culture became essentially Scottish, especially in the South.

Cameron was convinced that his blood would not be shed in vain. He knew it would bring liberty after he was gone. Eight years later was the Glorious Revolution in England. Just before he was killed, Richard Cameron said, “Do not be discouraged for you few numbers. For when Jesus Christ comes to do His work in Scotland, He will not lack volunteers.” The volunteers showed up in America 100 years later when America’s War of Independence was raging.

America was losing the war until it went south. The Scots then came down out the hills and ran the British all the way to York Town and won liberty. Cameron’s Puritan hope came true! Jesus Christ had come to do His work in the Greater Scotland and did not lack volunteers.

That, my friends, is the rest of the story of thanksgiving. The Pilgrims brought the covenant in the North and the Scots completed it in the south.

Our fathers' God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing; long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light; protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

What Does God Tell The World?

What Does God Tell The World?

Has anyone ever been born again because they thought Christ was coming soon? Did the apostles ever tell unbelievers that? No, they only shared that with believers as the blessed hope. Paul preached that God “commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31 ESV). Paul also “reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.” In other words he sought to convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8).

            That is the only Scriptural way to bring men to Christ. No one comes to Christ without the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has not been telling lies for the last 2000 years by telling people Christ is coming soon. If so, He would have been lying because 2000 years is not soon.

            Both John and Jesus preached saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mt 3:2 & Mt 4:17). The kingdom of God is at hand because “kingdom” means “rule.” The rule of God is at hand. The rule of God has rules. Seek first the government of God and His righteous rules, and all your other needs shall be met (Mat 6:33). Only by preaching “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” will men be saved (Acts 20:21).

Judge Not

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Judge Not

Mat 7:1-23

 Jesus did not say, “Judge not,” period. He told how to judge without being judged.

"Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” 

Christians Are Accused Of Being Judgmental

         When Christians are accused of being judgmental there is some truth in it.  Sinners feel judged when honest people just live a righteous life & mind their own business.  The whole Bible is judgmental.  That is the one and only reason proud men can’t stand to read it.  The Bible describes believers as seated on thrones with judgment committed to them (Rev 20:4).  Ephesians 2 says believers are seated with Christ in heavenly places.  Daniel foresaw this when he said, “the court shall be seated” (Dan 7:26) “and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High.”

         The way this judgment takes place is by the preaching of God’s word.  To preach God’s word or to obey it requires a judgment.  But to reject it does also.  All through this chapter Jesus makes judgments and calls on the listeners to make judgments.  You be the judge. 

So when He says, “Judge not,” He does not mean what hypocrites think He means.  When Jesus said, “Repent,” that was judgmental.  When God’s Law says, “Thou shalt not,” that is judgmental.  But the only legitimate way we can judge is if we first judge ourselves.  We must side with God’s judgment against ourselves.  The judging that Jesus hates is the one that has a “holier than thou” attitude or a self-justifying attitude, an attitude that “I’m good and you’re bad.”  Mercy, empathy, and love with a spirit of meekness should be our motive.  Redemption is the goal, not condemnation. 

On the other hand, anyone who encounters the convincing power of the Holy Spirit is going to feel condemned (judged) just like we do.  To escape that feeling, rebels justify themselves and judge the messenger as being judgmental.  They justify themselves and judge God’s law.  They project onto the messenger their own condemnation.  Jesus is not saying simply “Judge not.”  He is saying if we judge ourselves first, then we can judge.  The only way to not be judged is to side with God against our selves and be justified by grace through faith.

         Unbelievers try to justify themselves by judging the messenger.  Calling Christians judgmental is judging.  When they say, “Judge not,” they themselves are also judging.  Everyone makes judgments.  It’s impossible to not make them.  To discern between good & evil is to make a judgment.  But when man thinks he can decide for himself what is good and evil instead of submitting to God’s judgment, he has eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He has created a law unto himself.  He has become an autonomous judge that makes up his own rules of political correctness.        

Autonomous Thought Is Judgmental

         “Autonomous” means “self-made law.” Autonomous thought forces men to make a judgment by picking out some aspect of the creation as the origin of all meaning; and that aspect of creation is usually the state.  The state replaces God. In picking some aspect of creation as the origin of all meaning, the autonomous thinker is made captive to a kind of idol (a god) of his own making. Political correctness is an example of autonomous judgmentalism. This idol, this god bends his understanding to conform to its dictates as in statism.

         Then Jesus continues in this same chapter into the matter of making a judgment concerning dogs and pigs (false teachers).  

Judging Dogs And Pigs

"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Mat 7:6).

  To obey this command, one has to make a judgment as to who is or is not a dog and a pig.  Paul called the false teachers dogs (Phil 3:2).  Dogs not will enter the celestial City (Rev 22:15).  Jesus then makes a connection between not casting pearls to pigs and the prayer of faith.  Keep in mind He is not changing the subject.  This is in the context of judging in church discipline. 

Judgment In Prayer

 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mat 7:7).

         What has prayer got to do with dogs and pigs?  The other time Jesus talks about asking and receiving in faith is in the context of making a judgment in church discipline.  In Mat 18:18 He says, “But if he refuses even to hear the church [false teachers refuse to hear the church], let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.  Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind [forbid] on earth will be bound [forbidden] in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit] on earth will be loosed [permitted] in heaven.  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Mt 18:18-19).  “Two of you” means two or more of His disciples (not two of just anybody).  Binding and loosing has to do with making a judgment in prayer, a prayerful decision by the church to reject false teachers…dogs.

         What do we learn from this?  How do we apply this to current events?  Any so-called Christian church that denies the infallible inspiration of Scripture, for example, as it is interpreted in the judgment of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds is under the wrath of God.  We have a great historical example of this judgment in the Arian controversy.

The Arian Controversy

         The period from A.D. 300 to 400 was one of the most important pivotal times in church history.  The church had just gone through ten persecutions by ten emperors over 250 years starting in 64 AD with Nero.  The last one was the worst, and lasted for ten years.  Multitudes of church buildings, Bibles, and martyrs were burned.  Some of the mightiest men of God in history lived at this time.  One of those was Anthony of the Desert whose life spanned almost 100 years.  Athanasius, the father of orthodoxy, knew him and wrote his story.  These men lived through these times of suffering and cataclysmic change in world history.  The persecution ended when the Emperor Constantine had a vision of the cross and these words written in the sky: “In this sign conquer.”  He then conquered the persecutor and brought liberty to the churches.

         But then another persecution arose.  Christian heretics led this one.  The Arians were followers of a priest named Arius started teaching that Jesus was not God.  He said He was just the Son of God and was a created being.  Athanasius was the bishop of Alexandria who withstood this heresy and was exiled five times.  The followers of Arius (the Arians) with government help gained great numbers and persecuted the Trinitarian believers.  When the emperor Constantine became aware of this he facilitated a church council at the city of Nicea in order to settle this controversy.  318 church leaders from all over the world gathered to decide on this matter.  The result was the judgment made by the Nicene Creed.  All the churches of the world agreed on the doctrine of the Trinity; that God is Three Persons in One Essence.  Because all the churches were united in this decision, what they bound on earth in the Nicene Creed was binding in heaven.  The Arian dogs were judged.

         There were several godly giants that fought in this crucial battle for the orthodox faith besides Athanasius. How dare we exalt ourselves as more enlightened than these Spirit filled men of God who laid down their lives for the Kingdom?  How dare we act as provincial and self-righteous lone rangers by re-inventing orthodoxy on the anvil of anti-historical provincialism!     

         Some have taught that Constantine was bad for the church.  Constantine himself had no say in the Nicene Creed.  Matter of fact, his priest was an Arian.  But like Cyrus the Great whom God called His anointed, even though he did not know God, Constantine brought peace to the church that later resulted in the conversion of the Roman Empire.  As Daniel foresaw, “The court was seated and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the most High God.” Or as John saw it, “I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed” (Revelation 20:4-5).

         Arius, on his way to become the bishop of Constantinople suddenly got sick, went to the latrine, fell in, and died. He judged wrongly and got judged.

Was Elijah A Happy Man?

Was Elijah a happy man? He was not a rich man. He lived for a while off a poor widow. Another time he lived off the bread and meat that the ravens brought him. He was a desert man and a wanted man. At times he felt all alone. When Jezabel swore to have his blood in 24 hours, he was a fearful man. Yet days before that he was very bold. After hiding from King Ahab for three and a half years he dared to meet him for a showdown. Moderns would say he was bi-polar. He ascended to great heights on Mt. Carmel and days later descended to the depths of depression.

            Was he a happy man? He was not interested in being happy. The thought never entered his mind. He only cared about one thing - God’s kingdom. To modern cynics he was too radical. They would say he was too obsessed with the political situation. “Let people be. Why are you so radical? Why do you torment yourself so? You’re mad! You’re delusional. On top of that, you’re self-righteous. You think you’re the only one. You said, ‘It ain’t gonna rain ‘til I say so.’ Besides that you murdered the prophets of Baal! Would Jesus do that? You’re possessed! Why don’t you have some fun? Take a vacation once in a while.”

            Elijah told Ahab to call for 900 false prophets to be present for the showdown at Mt. Carmel. If they all showed up it was and earth-shattering experience that drastically transformed the political landscape, because after that, prophet after prophet appeared to give messages to Ahab. Before that they were all hiding in caves.

            The great passion of Elijah was the restoration of God’s kingdom and the destruction of Baal worship. God ordained him to anoint a new king for Israel, a new king for Syria, and a new prophet to take his place. The new king for Israel, Jehu, stamped out Baal worship and God rewarded him with the longest dynasty in Samaria’s history, 99 years. But the victory was not entire. Jehu failed to stamp out the golden calf worship.

            Was Elijah a happy man? Who cares? Elijah did not.

Bad Things Happen To Good People?

    We should not be surprised at all the atrocities and evil in the world. We should be surprised that most of us escape such curses that we deserve since the Fall. It is only by God’s grace that we are not all destroyed since Adam fell. “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob” (Mal 3:6). “Nothing can happen to you unless I let it happen,” saith the Lord. “And if I do, it is for your good, even unto death.” The “you” here are those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

     Someone might object that it is not fair for God to spare some and let the rest be destroyed. Remember the parable where the owner paid the same wage to those who worked one hour as he paid to those who had worked all day? Those who worked all day said, “It’s not fair!” What was the owner’s answer?  “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Mt 20:15).

    Why do most people object that it is not fair for bad things to happen to some people? Is it not because they assume (presuppose) that nothing bad should happen to anyone, or at least not to innocent people? Is it a valid assumption? Not according to Scripture. No one is innocent. All are stained by Adam’s Fall and death came upon all.

    It is an insult to God’s holiness to insist that He has an obligation to save everyone. For man to insist that is to make himself God’s judge. Such arrogance deserves the wages of sin (death). On judgment day every mouth will be stopped and all the world will be declared, “Guilty.”  The gift of God is eternal life to those whose names are found written in the Book Of Life.

The True Church

The True Church

Revelation 1 depicts the seven churches of Asia as golden candlesticks and calls them the churches of Christ. Candlesticks are used to give light to the world. Jesus said to His church, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14). The seven churches of Asia were visible to the world. They were shining lights that could not be hidden. But even though they were depicted as pure as gold, Jesus pointed out their faults. So it is with the visible church. The church in Corinth is called the church of God (1 Cor 1:1) even though it had many faults and sins. God called the church in the wilderness His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4:22), but with most of them God was not well pleased (1 Cor 10:5).

This seems like a contradiction, but it is a paradox that some cannot discern. Their logic says, “If a church tolerates false doctrine, it is not God’s church. It is a false church.” But is that the logic of Scripture?

Can God’s church have false doctrines and moral corruption and still be God’s church? Can a dead church be the true church? Was the church in Sardis God’s church? Jesus said to it, “you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev 3:1). The church in Ephesus lost its first love. Was it still God’s church? Is a church that allows the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans still God’s church? That’s what the church of Pergamum allowed (Rev 2:14-15). How about a church like the one in Thyatira that tolerated that woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess and was teaching and seducing God’s servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20-21)? How about a lukewarm church on the verge of being vomited out? Are they still golden candlesticks? Was it still God’s Church? And who knows if it is vomited out already or its candlestick removed? Can a church still have a name that it lives and be dead? Who decides that? God alone can make that judgment.

Evidently they were still God’s churches because in each church there were still a few names who had not soiled their garments (Rev 3:4). So we learn from the Scriptural examples that God names His church after the remnant within the church that are conquerors and not after those within it that tolerate false doctrine and corruption.

We have those who say, “The true church is our church.” Or, “The Catholic Church is the false church.” But are there no conquerors in the Catholic Church? What defines a true church? Jesus told us in Mathew 18:18. He said to the church, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you [plural] bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

When Arius challenged the true faith of the church, the entire church got together in Nicaea in 325 AD and bound on earth and in heaven the essential definition of what the true church. It is called the Nicene Creed. In essentials there must be unity; in non-essentials there must be liberty; liberty to disagree without excommunication. Who gets to decide what the essentials are? Jesus told us in Mat. 18:18.

Therefore, anyone who says he is a Christian, but denies that Jesus is God, cannot say he is a Christian. Who says so? Jesus said the church says so. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). The Bible is the word of the church. The Nicene Creed is pure Bible doctrine. The agreement of the one and only church made it binding on earth and in heaven. Jesus said so.

So the question is this: Is the Catholic Church God’s church? Well, according to the logic of Scripture on the visible church, I am forced to admit it is God’s church in spite of false doctrines and corruption because it confesses the essentials of the faith and has true conquerors as a remnant within just as the churches in Asia did.

Is there such a thing as a Christian that has not one ounce of wrong doctrine or corruption? “Reformed and always reforming.”

The same is true of the Baptist churches, the Coptic Church, the Reformed churches, etc. “Reformed and always reforming.”

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
the only Son of God, 
eternally begotten of the Father, 
God from God, light from light, 
true God from true God, 
begotten, not made, 
of one Being with the Father; 
through him all things were made. 
For us and for our salvation 
he came down from heaven, 
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary 
and became truly human. 


For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; 
he suffered death and was buried. 


On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 


He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, 
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], 
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, 
who has spoken through the prophets. 


We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 


We look for the resurrection of the dead, 
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Whore Of Babylon And the Beast

The Judgment Of The Great Prostitute

Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute… (Revelation 17:1)

What Is Her Identifying Mark?

And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (Revelation 17:6 ESV)

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.” (Revelation 18:24 ESV)

Jerusalem, in New Testament times, was the only city in the world that had killed God’s prophets. Babylon, Nineveh, and Egypt never had done that.

… it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets … (Luke 13:33-34 ESV)

        

Her Destiny

For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” (Revelation 18:8)

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2)

This took place in that generation just like Jesus foretold in Mat. 24:34. The Roman army (the abomination of desolation) surrounded Jerusalem  and made it so desolate that Josephus said you could not even tell a city had been there if the Romans had not left a tower still standing. What did the multitude in heaven think about this?

They Rejoiced

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, [2] for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Will the Temple Ever Be Rebuilt?

 Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” (Revelation 19:1-3 ESV)

And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Matthew 21:19 ESV)

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9 ESV)

Jesus’ ministry was three years. The tree was not immediately cut down after His three-year ministry. It was cut down after He dug around it for forty years, and finally cut down in AD 70.

The Beast

In Revelation 17 the Great Prostitute is depicted as mounted on the Beast. The Beast is identified as the city of seven hills. We all know the city of seven hills is Rome. The Beast is described as also having seven heads and ten horns. The ten horns were the ten kings over the ten provinces of Rome. The seven heads represent seven kings. Five had fallen and the angel says, “One is.” The five that had fallen were Julius Caesar, Agustus Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, Caligula Caesar, and Claudius Caesar. The one still living was Nero. Galba came after that, but lasted less than six months. Nero was the Beast incarnate. The Beast was Rome.

The Great Prostitute riding on the Beast signifies that Rome was the support and vehicle of Jerusalem. The chief priests of Jerusalem, who looked like lambs spoke like a dragon when they cried, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Because each Hebrew letter is also a numeral, the letters that spell “Neron Caesar” total 666. The Great Prostitute is also called the beast that looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon. She is also called the False Prophet.

The Modern Application

This fulfilled pattern repeats itself in history time and again because the nature of man and the nature of the beast never change. Statism is a beast. The function of the False Prophet was to get the whole world to worship its image. Obama also has “priests” (men of the cloth) like Jeremiah Wright and several others who support his statism.

Statism is the enemy of the City of God throughout Scripture. We see it with the Tower of Babel, we see it in Abraham’s home town, Ur of the Chaldees. We see it with Egypt enslaving Israel. We see it with the King of Babylon forcing everyone to bow to his image of the state. And we see it with Rome.

It can be called the divine right of kings and it can be called Marxism. A rose by any other name is still a rose.

Ron Smith

Churchofthekingmcallen.org